FIELD
ENHANCEMENT 1
All About My Tree
OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this lesson, students will
be able to:
• Observe various features of trees.
• Draw these tree parts: trunk, crown,
and roots.
• Draw a picture of a tree’s basic needs:
nutrients, sunlight, space, air, and water.
SUBJECT AREAS
Arts, Science
LESSON/ACTIVITY TIME
• Total Lesson Time: 55 minutes
• Time Breakdown:
Introduction...........10 minutes
Activity ..................30 minutes
Conclusion............15 minutes
TEACHING SITE
Schoolyard, park, or forest with enough trees
that each student or pair of students can
adopt one as their own.
CLASSROOM LESSON
CONNECTIONS
This lesson enhances Classroom Lesson 1,
Tree Hardware.
NUTSHELL
In this lesson, students record their observations
and draw an adopted tree. Students then share
information about their trees and create a class
scrapbook.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Just like people, every tree is different. Even
two trees of the same age and species planted
right next to each other take on individual
characteristics. Although their general growth
pattern might be similar, each tree has its
own fingerprint, so to speak. In addition,
environmental factors like insects chewing
on leaves and birds building nests can add
to the differences.
There are several things about all trees that are
similar, no matter the species, age, or growing
site. All trees have the same basic needs. Trees
need nutrients from the soil in order to grow and
reproduce. Air is necessary for trees to get the
carbon dioxide they use in photosynthesis. Trees
also need energy from the sun to complete the
process of photosynthesis. In photosynthesis,
trees use the sun’s energy to convert carbon
dioxide and water into sugars and oxygen.
Besides aiding in photosynthesis, water aids in
the transportation of nutrients up and down the
trunk. Space is also one of the tree’s basic
needs. Root systems need room to grow, as do
branches, leaves, and trunks.
Another thing that makes all trees similar is their
three basic parts: trunk, crown, and roots. The
trunk, or stem, provides support for the branches
and leaves. It also acts as a transportation
connection between the leaves and roots. The
leafy crown is where photosynthesis takes place.
A tree’s unseen root system may spread out
even farther than the crown of the tree. Large
roots anchor the tree, store sugar, and serve as
a path for nutrients and water to reach the rest
of the tree. Small roots that grow from the
large roots absorb water and nutrients
from the soil.
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Field Enhancement 1: All About My Tree
LEAF Guide • K-1 UNIT
VOCABULARY
Crown: The part of a tree with live branches
and leaves.
Nutrients: The things in the soil that a tree
needs to live and grow.
Roots: The part of a tree that works
underground to get water and nutrients
for a tree to use.
Space: The area that a living thing needs
to grow.
Trunk: The part of a tree that the crown
grows on and connects the crown to the
roots (often called the stem).
MATERIALS LIST
FOR EACH STUDENT
• Student Pages 1-2, All About My Tree
• Several crayons
• Clipboard or notebook to use as a
writing surface
FOR EVERY 3 TO 4 STUDENTS
• Art paper
• Paints
• Pocket folder with three clasps in spine
FOR THE CLASS
• Three-ring binder
FOR THE TEACHER
• Three-hole punch
TEACHER PREPARATION
PROCEDURE
INTRODUCTION
1. Take your group on a short walk outside to take
a closer look at some trees. Try to find dead
trees and living trees, old trees and young
trees. Allow students time to get a close look
at several different trees.
2. Stop at one tree and point out the trunk, crown,
and roots of the tree.
3. At another tree, discuss what trees need to
survive: nutrients, sunlight, space, air, and
water. (Nutrients come from the soil and help
the tree grow. Sunlight is where trees get
energy that they make into food. Space is
needed so trees can grow and spread their
roots and branches. Air is needed for the tree
to get carbon dioxide. Water is needed for
trees to make food and to transport nutrients
in the tree.)
LEAF Guide • K-1 UNIT
• Visit the teaching site to be sure there are
enough trees for each student or pair of
students to adopt one. In addition, locate
as many of the following as possible:
- Dead trees
- Living trees
- Young trees
- Old trees
• Copy Student Pages 1-2, All About My
Tree and three-hole-punch them.
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
Visit the teaching site ahead of time to locate
any hazards such as hanging branches,
protruding tree roots, holes, poison ivy,
stinging nettle. Encourage students to walk,
not run, at all times when in a forested area.
4. Explain that each student (or pair of students)
will adopt a tree. Students should record
special information about their tree on a
worksheet. Later, the worksheets will be put
together to make a class scrapbook about
their adopted trees.
Field Enhancement 1: All About My Tree
87
ACTIVITY
1. Help match each student or pair of students
with one tree that they can adopt as their own.
2. Give each student Student Pages 1-2, All
About My Tree, a clipboard or notebook to
use as a writing surface, and several crayons.
(Even if two students are adopting one tree,
each student will still fill out a worksheet.)
Guide them through the following activities
on their Student Page:
• Using the space on the worksheet, draw
a picture of your tree, including the trunk,
crown, and how the roots might look
underground. Be sure to notice leaf shape,
bark color, etc. Draw an arrow from the
word “crown” in the left column to the crown
of your tree. Do the same for the trunk
and roots.
• Circle the picture on the worksheet that
reminds you of how big your tree is.
• Do any animals live on or near your tree?
Look carefully on the ground around your
tree, on the bark, branches, and leaves
of your tree. Circle all the animals on the
worksheet that you found on or near
your tree.
• Use the space on the worksheet to draw
what your tree needs to survive (nutrients,
sunlight, space, and water).
• Look at the shape of your tree’s crown.
Circle the picture on your worksheet that
reminds you of the shape of your tree.
CONCLUSION
1. Take your students back to the classroom. If
necessary, give them a few minutes to finish
drawing and writing about their trees.
3. Put your worksheets together in the three-ring
binder to make one class scrapbook.
EXTENSIONS
Optional Ideas
You may want to have students create a journal
page about their tree.
• Listen to your tree. Does it make any sounds?
Write or draw about the sounds that you hear
on a piece of paper.
• Look at your tree from different angles: lie on
the ground underneath your tree and look up at
the branches, look at your tree from far away,
sit with your back to your tree and look at your
tree’s surroundings, stand very close to your
tree and take a careful look. Draw a picture of
your tree from one of these new angles.
• Carefully collect something from your tree that’s
already on the ground: leaf, seed, twig, soil, or
small piece of bark. Add it to your scrapbook.
• Make a leaf and/or bark rubbing with crayons.
• Make a leaf print with paint.
• Dip a twig in paint and paint a picture.
Seasonal Ideas
You may decide to make seasonal visits to your
adopted trees. In this case, each student can
create their own scrapbook about their tree.
• Draw a picture of how your tree looks this
season and include the surroundings. Be sure
to notice how the tree’s shadow looks different
at different times of the day or year
• Are any new animals living on or near your
tree? Look carefully on the ground around your
tree, as well as on the bark, branches, and
leaves of your tree. Draw pictures of the
animals you see this season.
2. Ask students to share with the group one
special thing about their tree. Review what
trees need to survive: nutrients, sunlight,
space, air, and water. Review the three basic
parts of a tree: trunk, crown, and roots.
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Field Enhancement 1: All About My Tree
LEAF Guide • K-1 UNIT
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
REFERENCES
Have students draw a tree near their home.
They should label its parts (crown, trunk, roots)
and list or draw the animals that live in or near
the tree. They can also note any unique features
of their tree.
Project Learning Tree K-6. (1990). Washington
D.C: The American Forest Council.
A Teachers’ Guide to Arbor Month. (1996).
St. Paul: Minnesota Arbor Month Partnership.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
••• BOOK •••
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. (New York: Harper & Row, 1964.) This classic story tells of a
boy’s use of a tree as he grows from a young boy to an old man.
LEAF Guide • K-1 UNIT
Field Enhancement 1: All About My Tree
89
1
ALL ABOUT MY TREE
This is a drawing of my tree.
My
tree
has a:
Crown
Trunk
Roots
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Field Enhancement 1: All About My Tree
LEAF Guide • K-1 UNIT
2
ALL ABOUT MY TREE
My tree is this big
These animals live near my tree
My tree needs these to survive
The shape of my tree’s crown is
WATER
SUNLIGHT
LEAF Guide • K-1 UNIT
AIR
NUTRIENTS
SPACE
Field Enhancement 1: All About My Tree
91